Croatian freediver Vitomir Maričić set a new world record in the longest breath hold under water. For a single breath, he remained an incredible 29 minutes and 3 seconds underwater. With this performance, he broke the previous record in almost five minutes and entered the Guinness Book of Records in the category of longest voluntary breath holding underwater.
During their half -hour performance Holded Maričić’s breath twice as long as a dolphin jumping at their longest recorded immersion. Its performance was equal to ordinary seals, which can replace up to 90 percent of the air in their lungs, while people only 20 percent. In order to compete with natural freedivers, Maričić used pure oxygen to purify blood from excess nitrogen.
Before the output of ten minutes, pure oxygen breathed, increasing the oxygen level in the blood to five times the normal level. The record for the record took place on June 14 in the three -meter pool of the hotel in Opatija, Croatia. The whole performance was watched by five official referees and approximately one hundred spectators.
Before immersion, Maričić used a process called denitrogenization in which he filled his red blood cells with maximum oxygen by breathing pure oxygen and got dissolved oxygen into his blood plasma, which is not possible under normal circumstances. This method is also used in medicine to extend the so -called safe time apnea.
Even with the help of pure oxygen, breath hold for half an hour is considered a superhuman performance. The previous record holder was Maričić’s compatriot Budimir Šobat, who in 2021 retained his breath for 24 minutes and 37 seconds. Before him he held the record magician David Blaine with a time of 17 minutes and 4 seconds.
Without the use of oxygen, times are much shorter. The record among men is held by Stéphane Mifsud with 11 minutes and 35 seconds and among women Heike Schwerdtner with a time of 9 minutes and 22 seconds. Maričić described his performance on Instagram with the words: “It’s not about how much you breathe, but about how little you need. No panic, no thoughts, just quiet. So you get to 29 minutes.”
